Sandcastles
by Sabulana
Summary: Riku and Sora's first visit to the island at the start of KH1. For Ecojak.


I know most people watching my account want an update for Undying Love and I do work on it sometimes. The next chapter is progressing, little by little. But in the meantime, I was inspired for this little ficlet, a hopefully cute friendship story with Sora and Riku and their first trip to the island at the beginning of KH1.

I dedicate this completely to Ecojak, without whom I would never have been bothered to write it, not matter how much the idea bugged me. I still don't have KH2 and I'm still insanely jealous of you for completing it with 100.

Disclaimer: I own neither the characters nor the place.

An additional note: Sora and Riku are six and seven respectively in this. Wakka is 9/10, Tidus is about 8/9 and Selphie is 7/8. I may be a little mixed up with the ages regarding Wakka, Tidus and Selphie but who cares, it's not like they have a major role in the game or anything. Now, try to enjoy this. Please?

--

The sun was shining, the seagulls were squawking and laughing at random people and all in all, it was a perfect day. Though considering it was still half past eight in the morning, it was perhaps a little early to say that. It still had a chance to become an utterly rotten, miserable day. But for now it was perfect.

And then Sora woke up.

The small, spiky-haired boy threw open his bedroom curtains and looked out the window. The moment he saw the sunshine, he let out a loud, triumphant yell and woke his parents.

"Dear, it's Saturday, isn't it?" his mother asked his father.

"Yes..." answered his father slowly.

"That Saturday?"

"Yep."

Both adults shot out of bed to see to their son.

By the time they were dressed, they could hear Sora creating chaos in the kitchen while he tried to make his own breakfast. But since he had to climb on chairs for everything and was not too good at handling almost full cartons of milk, a lot of milk and cereal ended up on the floor, the chairs, the table, the bench and, somehow, the ceiling too.

Sora's mother dashed into the kitchen took the milk carton from her son, a clean bowl and the cereal. She had efficiently poured a fresh bowl and set it on the table before Sora had even sat down on the only clean chair (How he managed to get milk on the chairs he hadn't touched, his mother wasn't sure she wanted to know).

"Five seconds," Sora's father said, coming in.

His wife looked confused but before she could ask what he was talking about, there came a rapid knocking on the door.

"RIKU!" Sora yelled, leaping from the chair and running to the door. "Bye Mom, bye Dad!" he called.

"Alright, maybe a little less than five seconds," admitted Sora's father.

The door slammed and excited, childish chatter could be heard going down the garden path.

Sora's father sighed and watched Riku and Sora leave. "I swear I have no idea where he gets that energy from. I couldn't have been that energetic when I was six."

Sora's mother smiled and began cleaning the impossible mess Sora had made. "At least they can wear themselves out on that island. I know that boy, Wakka, will bring them back safely."

"But you're still concerned about them going off to the island at such a young age," replied her husband.

"Well, yeah," She flushed lightly. "But wouldn't any mother? And this will be their first visit…what if something goes wrong?"

"You worry too much, dear. Just relax and enjoy a child-free day," Sora's father told her.

--

"We're really going to the island?" Sora asked excitedly.

"Of course!" Riku said. "I told you didn't I? I've even asked if I can borrow Wakka's boat."

Sora looked amazed. Wakka was two years older and had his own little rowboat. Rowboats on Destiny Islands were a symbol of complete independence to children of Sora's age.

"Did he actually say yes?" Sora asked, bouncing along the path to the beach. "Can we actually borrow his boat?"

Riku's face twisted in annoyance. "Well, not exactly," he began. "He said he'll row us out and bring us back himself."

Sora nodded, perfectly happy with the arrangement though he knew why Riku was not. Riku didn't want to have to rely on Wakka to get them out to the island and would have preferred to do it himself. He had always had an independent streak and usually the only person he would allow to spend time with him was Sora.

They arrived at the beach, still very excited. Riku led Sora to Wakka's little boat and they stood by it, waiting for the older boy to appear.

"Hey, wassup?" Wakka greeted. "All ready for your first trip to the island?"

"Yeah!" Sora punched the air enthusiastically.

"C'mon, let's leave already!" Riku demanded.

Wakka laughed and pushed the boat down to the water's edge. "Hop in, man," he said.

The two younger boys eagerly jumped in the boat. Wakka pushed the boat further into the water, climbed in and began rowing.

After a couple of small mishaps involving Sora almost capsizing the boat in his eagerness to reach the distant shore and Riku almost falling out of the boat while he watched the fish swim by, the three boys arrived on the island. Currently there were no other boats tied up along the tiny pier but a couple of lumps on the ocean showed that soon Tidus and Selphie would arrive.

"I'm leaving at sunset so meet back here then, alright?" Wakka said. "Until then, do as you please. This island is a kid's paradise!"

Riku and Sora shared ecstatic looks and then took off along the beach, whooping and yelling until Sora tackled Riku and both fell over. A small fight began that cleared up almost as quickly as it started and then the two boys were off exploring again.

"Wow, Riku! This place is awesome!" Sora exclaimed, jaw dropping.

They spent the entire morning exploring the island. Riku lead the way, being more adventurous than Sora, who followed completely awestruck by the thought of being somewhere without adults to tell him what to do and what not to do.

By mid-afternoon they had covered the entire island and were very hungry. They lay on the sandy beach, watching the birds circle overhead. There was a sudden rustling behind them and a cheerful face topped by blond hair appeared in their view.

"Sora, Riku!" Tidus said. "I heard this was your first time on our island!"

Sora sat up, looking full f energy once again. "Yeah! It's so awesome!" His stomach growled. "But...we didn't bring any food to eat..."

"Neither do we, most of the time, Tidus admitted. "There's enough fruit growing naturally for us to eat here without bringing much else. Come on, I'll show you where you get it!"

Tidus ran off without looking back to see if they were following.

"Come on!" Riku said, jumping to his feet and running after the departing blond.

Tidus led them to the base of a tree, much like all the others around them. "Watch this," he said, picking up a bright red stick. Wielding it like a sword, he struck the tree hard, once, twice and three times. Each time, a large coconut fell from the tree. These coconuts he picked up and smashed against a rock. The hard shells cracked and Tidus gave Riku and Sora one each. "Dinner is served," he said.

Sora and Riku eagerly ate their coconuts and lay beneath the shade provided by the bridge leading to the tiny island where the legendary paupou fruit grew. Riku seemed quite content to stare out to sea but Sora began filling the empty coconut shells with sand.

"Sora, what are you doing?" Riku asked after a while.

"I'm going to build a sandcastle," Sora replied. "Wanna help?"

"Okay!" Riku smiled and began filling his own coconut shell.

When Wakka, Tidus and Selphie wandered past a few minutes later, they stopped to observe the two boys.

"I know!" said Selphie suddenly. "Let's have a sandcastle building contest! Sora and Riku versus Wakka and Tidus!"

With both teams divided, the boys began building sandcastles as quickly as they could. Selphie, the self-appointed judge, wandered between the two groups giving out encouragement.

Sora and Riku worked well as a team, she decided. Sora, after finding out Riku was better at getting the sand to stay in shape, was content to fill coconut shells with sand and find decorations. Riku put it all together, including the little seaweed-on-a-twig flag that Sora improvised at the last second.

Wakka and Tidus seemed to be working separately on the same castle. Wakka was trying to build his side upwards while Tidus expanded to the sides. Selphie grinned. It was clear to her who the winner would be.

When it was nearing sunset, she called a halt to the contest, looking over the two teams and their sandcastles. She resisted the urge to "aw" at the younger boys, who looked positively adorable with sand everywhere. All the same, she was glad she wouldn't have to wash it all off them tonight.

"Well, I've thought long and hard," she began, lying through her teeth. She knew whom she was going to pick to win before the contest began, simply based on the adorableness of the two younger boys. "And I've decided that Sora and Riku are the winners!"

"Yeah! We won!" Sora jumped around with joy, falling over when Riku pushed him gently backwards so that he didn't spoil their sandcastle.

Riku smiled triumphantly, as if he knew he was going to win all along. But Selphie knew better. She had heard his urgent whispering to Sora to hurry up before the other team beat them.

"So what do we win?" Sora asked.

"Hmm..." Selphie hadn't thought about the prizes she would give out. Then she suddenly had an idea. She put her hands in her pockets and brought out two chocolate bars. The bouncy young girl had been saving them for the trip back home since rowing always made her so hungry, but she could go without tonight. "Chocolate bars!"

"Yeah!" Sora's face lit up, as did Riku's as they received their prize.

"Well, time to go home," Wakka said. "Sunset. Your parents will want you home."

"Aw..." Sora pouted. "Can't we stay a little longer?"

"Not unless you want to play in the dark and the cold," Wakka said. "Besides, your parents will kill me if you don't get home safely!"

Reluctantly Sora and Riku climbed into the boat and looked back at the island longingly. But by the time the reached the main island, both were cold and sleepy. In the end, Wakka had to carry both of them home, eternally thankful that they lived next door to each other and only a street away from him.

Once home, both boys entertained their parents with tales of their adventures that day. Their parents, used to these tales, laughed and oohed and aaahed in the right places and tucked their sons into bed with smiles on their faces. And each boy asked the same question just before the lights were turned off for the night.

"When can I have my own boat?"

--

I hope you enjoyed this. It's been far too long since I posted any of my writing online, which isn't to say that I haven't been writing, because I have. You just don't get to see it. :P

Well, please leave a review. I must go now as there is an adorable black and white monster purring in my ear and trying to climb on my head in a quest for attention.


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